


When Everything Changes

by TheRev28



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS (Video Game), ラブライブ! 虹ヶ咲学園スクールアイドル同好会 | Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Idols, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Confessions, Drunk Sex, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Masturbation, Pre-Relationship, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:13:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28543866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRev28/pseuds/TheRev28
Summary: Setsuna, Ayumu, and Yuu are best friends in college. Turns out, though, that both Setsuna and Ayumu love Yuu, and they're cursed to watch her go through a revolving door of girlfriends. Until one day when that all changes.
Relationships: Uehara Ayumu/Yuuki Setsuna
Comments: 95
Kudos: 117





	1. A Confession

Setsuna glanced up at the clock as the professor paused in his lecture. Seeing that it was almost time for class to be over brought a wave of relief. It wasn’t that Setsuna  _ hated _ her current class, but it was an elective not required for her degree. It was also her last class before lunch, so she always found herself eagerly wanting it to end. Part of her felt guilty about that, but the rest of her was just hungry. It was also a Friday, and she was ready for the weekend.

The professor also seemed to realize what time it was, and because they were at a good stopping point, he ended class a little early—much to the students’ joy. Those extra three minutes made all the world when it came to the lunch rush at the dining hall. Those three minutes would easily save Setsuna fifteen in the long run.

She hurried out of the liberal arts building and crossed campus to the dining hall. Upon arriving, she mentally fist pumped at realizing she had beaten the rush. Without half the campus trying to get food at the same time, it only took her a matter of minutes to acquire her meal and snag a table for herself and her two best friends, Ayumu and Yuu.

Setsuna spotted Ayumu first and waved her friend down from across the room. Ayumu smiled at her and headed over. The two had been roommates in their freshman year, and thankfully they had gotten along really well. Now they each had their own apartments off campus, but they lived in the same complex, just a few doors away from each other.

“Hey Setsu!” Ayumu said, dropping her bag in one of the empty chairs. “How’d you manage to get your food already?”

“Last class ended a little early, so I beat the rush,” Setsuna said after taking a sip of her drink.

Ayumu sighed. “Lucky. I’m not looking forward to braving the rush. Any sign of Yuu?”

“She’s probably already in line. You should just sit down and wait half an hour for things to die down. It’s not like we have a class after this. Yuu’s the only one in a hurry.”

Ayumu glanced back, noting the increasingly long lines for food. With another heavy sigh, she sat down at the table. Setsuna couldn’t keep herself from laughing a little at Ayumu’s misfortune.

“Screw you,” Ayumu said with a friendly smile. “If you hadn’t gotten out early, you’d be in the same boat.” Setsuna just laughed again.

The two continued to idly chat while they waited for their other friend to arrive. Not for the first time in the past year, Setsuna felt happy that she and Ayumu had been roommates. Freshman year had been… difficult for Setsuna. She’d had to deal with going from being a top-of-her-class student in high school to being a very middle-of-the-road student in university. As someone used to success, she’d had to recalibrate her brain a little. 

Thankfully, Ayumu had been a supportive friend throughout it all. She kept Setsuna involved in social activities so that Setsuna didn’t completely lose herself in schoolwork. When she felt down in the dumps, Ayumu would break out the ice cream, and they’d have a girls night in. Overall, she couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have a friend like Ayumu.

“Hey girls!” a voice called out from nearby. Looking around, they spotted Yuu heading their way with a tray of food.

“Sure took you long enough,” Ayumu said, the tease plainly evident in her tone. Ayumu and Yuu were childhood friends who got into the same university together. Obviously, then, Setsuna and Yuu became friends in freshman year, considering Yuu practically spent more time in Setsuna and Ayumu’s room than her own.

Yuu practically collapsed onto the chair, sighing heavily, and it was a miracle that nothing on her tray spilled. “These fucking food lines are gonna be the death of me, I swear. By the time I actually get my meal, I’ve barely got half an hour to eat it!” She gestured to the food on her tray.

“You’ll be fine,” Setsuna said, smiling. “Though I’m surprised to see you eating something besides koppepan. Finally get tired of it after eating it non-stop for a few weeks?”

Yuu let out an embarrassed chuckle and scratched her cheek, eyes darting this way and that. Setsuna and Ayumu shared a knowing look. They had a pretty good idea of what was coming.

“Well, uh… y’see, Kasumin—I mean Kasumi—and I kinda broke up last night.”

And there it was. As much as Setsuna wanted to be surprised, she couldn’t bring herself to be. Yuu and Kasumi had been dating for a few weeks, and as far as Setsuna could tell, things had been going well. That’s how all of Yuu’s relationships started. She’d meet a new girl, they’d hit it off because Yuu could hit it off with  _ anyone _ , and they’d start dating. Then a few weeks later, they’d break up. Setsuna could probably set her calendar by it.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Ayumu said, putting a hand on Yuu’s shoulder. “What happened?”

“I don’t know!” Yuu threw her head back in frustration. “I thought things were going fine! We’d hang out after our classes ended, sometimes go on little dates, just generally have fun together. Then she wanted to start hanging out on weekends, even though I told her from the start that that was a no-go.” Setsuna and Ayumu shared another look while Yuu wasn’t paying attention. “She seemed fine with it, but then last night she said she wanted to talk and we ended up breaking up.”

She sighed again and ate some of her food. 

“Does she at least still want to be friends?” Setsuna asked. 

“Oh, yeah, she does. And if Ai, and Shizuku, and Kanata, and Shioriko are any indication, I’m sure we’ll manage to stay friends.”

“I still have no idea how you’re actually friends with your exes.”

“What can I say, my charms are just irresistible,” Yuu said with a smirk.

“You’re so full of crap,” Ayumu said, smirking back. “If you were that irresistible, you wouldn’t have so many damn exes.”

“Hey, it’s not my fault none of them seem to get that I’m serious when I say I can’t hang out on weekends.”

“Y’know, most normal people would be willing to compromise a little to make their girlfriend happy,” Setsuna said, joining in on the playful ribbing. It was practically a ritual at this point when Yuu broke up with a girlfriend. 

Yuu grinned. “Yeah, but would you love me so much if I were like normal people?” Setsuna and Ayumu looked at each other before sharing a sigh. That just got Yuu laughing. The laughter cut off as she looked up, and her eyes widened. “Crap, I didn’t notice the time. I need to get to my next class! Talk to you later!”

She stood up and hurried off, leaving Setsuna and Ayumu once again sitting by themselves. Once she was out of sight, the two friends burst out laughing. 

“God, if only she knew how right she was,” Setsuna said, trying to catch her breath. 

“She’s so insufferable, but it’s hard not to love how passionate she is,” Ayumu said, wiping a tear away.

“I can’t imagine being in love with her since high school like you’ve been. It’s barely been a year for me, and I’m already exhausted.”

“I learned how to laugh at how dense she is. And getting to laugh about it with you has made a world of difference. I’m so glad you called me out on it freshman year.”

Setsuna chuckled again, thinking back to that day towards the end of freshman year.

##########

The three best friends sat together in Setsuna and Ayumu’s room. Yuu had called Ayumu an hour ago, sniffling and trying to hold back tears, asking if she could come over. Obviously her friends had agreed without hesitation, and Yuu arrived in no time.

She had hardly gotten in the door when she announced that she and her girlfriend, Ai, had broken up. Setsuna and Ayumu immediately went into comfort mode and broke out the ice cream.

“I can’t believe she broke up with me,” Yuu mumbled between spoonfuls of ice cream. She laid her head on Ayumu’s shoulder, and Ayumu put an arm around her friend. 

Internally, Setsuna also couldn’t believe someone would break up with Yuu. She was so kind and passionate about the things she loved. If her relationship with Ayumu was any indication, she was also an incredibly supportive friend. Hell, she’d even supported Setsuna during first semester when Setsuna had her first mini existential crisis at not being the smartest person around anymore. Not to mention the fact that Yuu was really pretty and her smile could cure depression, and her laugh was— 

Setsuna blinked. Shit. She’d started to let her dumb crush get in the way of supporting Yuu in her time of need. Now wasn’t the time to prioritize her own feelings. 

“It’s alright, Yuu,” Setsuna said, sitting on Yuu’s other side, effectively sandwiching her with support. “Sometimes you hit it off with someone and think they’d make a great romantic partner, only to realize you’re better off as friends.”

Ayumu gave her best friend a squeeze. “It’s also okay to be disappointed that things didn’t work out. You’re allowed to feel sad about it.”

Yuu sniffled. “Thanks, you two. I don’t know what I’d do without you. I love you both.”

It was random chance that Setsuna happened to be looking at Ayumu when Yuu said that, and she saw her roommate clench her fist, just for a moment. That was an… interesting reaction. Setsuna filed that away for later.

A few hours—and a few tubs of ice cream—passed, and the two roommates did their best to comfort their friend. Throughout it all, Setsuna kept just as much an eye on Ayumu as Yuu; that fist clench had been such a strange reaction. Once she started looking for things like that, Setsuna saw them everywhere: lingering touches, longing stares when Yuu wasn’t looking, and so many more. It all pointed to one conclusion.

Once Yuu felt well enough to head back to her own dorm, she thanked Ayumu and Setsuna one last time, giving each of them a short hug. Setsuna tried not to feel guilty at how much she enjoyed it. Ayumu looked to be in a similar boat. With a final wave, Yuu left, leaving the two roommates alone once more. 

Setsuna turned to her friend with a mischievous smile. “So Ayumu… how long have you been in love with Yuu?”

Ayumu froze and slowly turned to look at Setsuna. Her expression was perfectly neutral. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh don’t try and play dumb with me. I’m not as dense as Yuu—I have eyes you know.”

Her smile grew larger as Ayumu’s own blank expression crumbled. With a big huff, Ayumu fell back onto her bed, limbs all splayed out.

“Fine! Since high school, alright?” Ayumu said, her tone dejected. “Probably longer, to be honest, but high school is when I finally admitted it to myself. Pathetic, right?”

“I don’t think so,” Setsuna said, taking a seat on the bed next to her friend. “I think it’s kinda cute! ‘Childhood friends to lovers?’ It’s like some of my favorite romance manga!”

“Gee, great to hear I’m a walking cliche,” Ayumu said, crossing one arm over her eyes.

“Oh shut up, you know what I mean.”

“So what tipped you off?”

“When Yuu said she loved us, I just happened to be looking at you. Saw that little fist clench you did. Then I started noticing all the other little things I hadn’t before.”

Ayumu sighed. “You make it sound so obvious. But I’ve been doing that sort of thing for the past two years, and she  _ still _ hasn’t caught on. It’s infuriating!”

“I can’t even imagine,” Setsuna said. “It’s only been a few months for me, and I already wanna strangle her for how dense she is.” She slapped her hands over her mouth, realizing that her mouth hadn’t bothered to consult her brain before speaking.

The damage was done, though. As soon as the words had left her mouth, Ayumu bolted upright and stared at her with a shocked expression. An awkward silence stretched on for a few moments. Right before Setsuna couldn’t take it anymore, Ayumu spoke up.

“Wait, so… you’re in love with Yuu, too?”

Setsuna panicked. She so desperately wanted to lie or deflect, to keep her feelings a secret, but the truth was already out in the open. At this point, all she could do was be honest and hope this wouldn’t make things awkward between the two of them. She had genuinely come to think of Ayumu as her best friend, and Setsuna couldn’t bear to think about that not being true anymore.

“I… wouldn’t go that far…. I’d just call it a crush at the moment.”

Ayumu’s expression softened. “She’s easy to crush on, isn’t she?”

Setsuna’s eyes widened. “Wait… you mean you’re not upset? You don’t hate me?”

“Setsu, I could never hate you for what you feel.” Ayumu paused and chuckled to herself. “Besides, if I hated everyone who got a crush on Yuu, I wouldn’t have any friends. Like I said, she’s very easy to like.”

A weight that Setsuna hadn’t realized was there lifted from her shoulders. She exhaled, feeling the tension leave her body, which turned into her own sort of embarrassed chuckle. Once again, Ayumu had proved herself to be the kindest, sweetest girl she’d ever known, and Setsuna felt truly blessed to be friends with her. 

##########

“It’s been surprisingly fun to have someone to make the ‘quiet suffering’ not so quiet anymore,” Setsuna said, pulling herself out of the memory. Then she grinned at her best friend. “By the way, don’t think I didn’t notice that little shoulder touch you did. I don’t know why you bother trying to be subtle with her anymore.”

Ayumu stuck her tongue out. “At least I’m still trying. I haven’t seen you try anything in ages. Finally giving up?”

The question gave Setsuna pause. Once she thought about it, she realized Ayumu was right; Setsuna couldn’t remember making any sort of subtle moves on Yuu in the past few months. Granted, she never tried anything while Yuu was in a relationship, but she’d only been with Kasumi for a few weeks. Though it had been Shioriko before that, and there hadn’t been much of a gap between the two…. And before that had been summer break, so she hadn’t even been around Yuu at all.

Setsuna shrugged, realizing she’d been silent for too long. “I just haven’t had much of an opportunity. You know I don’t try anything while she’s actually dating someone.” She paused for a moment, furrowing her brow in thought. “Now that I think about it, you really didn’t waste any time after hearing they broke up, huh?”

Ayumu didn’t answer for a while, instead simply staring down at the table. Meanwhile, Setsuna took the time to eat more, but her friend’s silence was strange. Did that comment cross some line Setsuna didn’t know about? Had Setsuna offended her?

“I think I’m gonna finally confess to her.”

Setsuna’s head shot up to stare at her friend. Ayumu wore a serious expression, so Setsuna couldn’t write it off as some kind of joke. She slowly lowered the bite of food she’d been about to take. 

“That’s… quite the decision. And I support you all the way, but…. Why now?”

A light dusting of red rose on Ayumu’s cheeks, and she looked back down, breaking eye contact. “W-well, um, my… my horoscope said that good things would happen today if I took the initiative.”

A beat of silence as Setsuna’s brain processed what she’d just heard. Once it had, she burst out laughing. She knew Ayumu liked to read her horoscope every now and then, but there was no way she’d make such an important life decision just because of  _ that. _ She saw Ayumu pout at her, and that only made Setsuna laugh harder. It took her almost a minute to regain enough composure to actually respond.

“You’re full of crap,” she said, still chuckling a little. “What’s the real reason?”

Ayumu threw her head back and groaned. “Fine! Fine, I’ll tell you.” She looked back at Setsuna and took a few deep breaths, clearly collecting her thoughts. “I’m just… I’m tired of watching her go through all these girls that don’t seem to be right for her—that don’t understand her and how passionate she is. And I think I can be the one she’d truly be happy with.” She smiled a little. “Who else could understand her better than her childhood best friend?”

“It  _ is _ just like my favorite shoujo manga,” Setsuna said, returning the smile and completing their long-standing inside joke. “Well like I said, I support your decision. And I guess it’s about time one of us finally did it.”

“Thanks, Setsu.” Ayumu sighed and laid her head on the table. “But why’d I have to decide that  _ now _ when I know I won’t have a chance to see her until after dinner?”

“Pomu, I swear, if you chicken out, I  _ will _ make fun of you for it.” Ayumu simply groaned.

The rest of their lunch together passed like normal, though Ayumu’s decision hung over them like a cloud. Part of Setsuna couldn’t believe her friend was finally gonna take the plunge. She genuinely did want it to work out for them, and that realization surprised her. Shouldn’t she feel… jealous? Or something? Didn’t she also have a crush on Yuu? There was no way Yuu would turn Ayumu down, which effectively meant Setsuna was losing her chance to be with Yuu. But it just… didn’t hurt the way her manga made it seem like it’d hurt. In fact… it didn’t really hurt at all. She just felt happy for the two of them. 

Eventually lunch ended, and the two had to go their separate ways. As they reached the point in their walk where they had to split up, Setsuna stopped and held out her hand in a closed fist.

“Good luck, Ayumu. If anyone can shout their love loudly enough for even Yuu to hear it, it’s you.”

Ayumu’s smile lit up the drab, overcast afternoon. She reached out and completed the fist bump.

“Only because you helped show me how.”

The two parted ways, and Setsuna tried to send all her good luck with her best friend.

The rest of the day passed like any other for Setsuna; though, she’d be lying if she said Ayumu’s immanent confession didn’t weigh heavily on her mind. She’d been part of this journey for the past year, and the thought of finally getting to see Ayumu come out on top filled Setsuna with excitement.

Somehow, she made it through her remaining classes. She killed the few remaining hours before lunch by getting some homework done at the student center, figuring the more she did now, the less she’d have to actually do over the weekend. That meant more time for gaming and anime. When her stomach couldn’t wait any longer, she grabbed a quick dinner on campus before finally heading back to her apartment.

She checked her phone, but there was still no word from Ayumu. She closed her eyes and sent one more stream of good vibes to her best friend. With not much else to do, Setsuna settled in for a nice night of gaming.

After an hour or so, her phone buzzed while she was in the middle of a match. When she glanced over and saw it was a text from Ayumu, she immediately abandoned her game to read it.

_ Pomu: _ _ Setsu, break out the whiskey. I’m headed your way, and I need it. _


	2. A Rejection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a confession.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Please* take note of the new tags in this chapter. It may look like a complete tonal shift, but don't worry, I ease into it.
> 
> If you're stumbling across this fic for the first time, disregard that message, lol. You folks knew what you clicked on.

As if the text hadn't been clear enough, Setsuna knew something was wrong the instant she opened her door. Ayumu looked terrible. Not that she looked ugly! Far from it. She had obviously dressed to impress, with a super cute blouse that showed  _ just _ enough cleavage and a skirt that showed off her great legs. A far cry from the light cami and shorts Setsuna wore as pajamas.

No, it was her face that looked terrible. Her eyes were red-ringed and a little bloodshot, and her light application of eye shadow and eye liner had run and streaked down her cheeks. To put it frankly, she was a mess.

Setsuna knew what had happened, even if she couldn’t believe it.

All of that went through her head in an instant, and as Ayumu opened her mouth to say something, Setsuna put a finger to her friend’s lips and stopped her.

“Shhh, not yet. You don’t have to say anything yet. First, why don’t you come in so I can get you cleaned up.”

Tears welled up in the corners of Ayumu’s eyes, but they didn’t fall. She sniffled once before nodding her head. Setsuna removed her finger from Ayumu’s lips and reached down to take her friend’s hand. She led Ayumu inside and towards the bathroom.

During the short walk, Setsuna’s mind went into overdrive. So many thoughts and emotions happened in the blink of an eye, but they soon crystalized into two: the details of what happened weren’t important yet, and the only thing that mattered now was helping Ayumu. So that’s what Setsuna would do.

Once in the bathroom, she sat Ayumu down on a little stool, facing away from the mirror. It’d do no good to let Ayumu see herself in her current state. Setsuna went to the cabinet and grabbed her makeup remover wipes before crouching down in front of her friend.

“Why don’t we get that makeup off first, alright, Pomu?”

“I….” Ayumu stopped to sniff again. Setsuna clearly saw her fight back another round of tears. “I’m sure it looks like shit, huh?”

The fact that Ayumu was trying to make a joke of it almost brought tears to Setsuna’s eyes. She tried to blink them away and smile at Ayumu.

“Just a little, yeah. So let me help fix that for you.”

Ayumu nodded and closed her eyes, and Setsuna took a wipe in her right hand. With her left, she reached out and gently cupped Ayumu’s cheek. Her thumb accidentally brushed against Ayumu’s lips, and her first thought was amazement at how soft they were. Her second thought was that she couldn’t believe she’d had the first thought. Thankfully, though, Ayumu either didn’t notice or didn’t pay it much heed.

Over the next few minutes, Setsuna slowly and gently cleaned Ayumu’s face. She took special care around the eyes, and she felt her heart sink at just how red and puffy they were. Obviously she couldn’t wipe away what had happened, but as she cleaned off the tear-stained eye liner, Setsuna knew it was important to do what she could. 

Throughout it all, Ayumu kept her eyes closed. Thankfully her breathing, which had been a little ragged when they began, had evened out. Every now and then, she’d lean into Setsuna’s hand, almost like a cat. It was cute and made Setsuna smile. 

With one final wipe, Setsuna pulled her hands away, and her thumb once again brushed against Ayumu’s lips. Setsuna’s heart beat just a little bit faster. Ayumu took a long, slightly shaky breath, and her eyes fluttered open. Setsuna made sure a smile would be the first thing her friend saw.

“There, does that feel a little better?” Setsuna asked. 

“A little, yeah. I don’t feel as gross anymore.”

Setsuna smiled a little wider. “I’m glad. Now, let’s get some moisturizer on you so your pretty skin doesn’t dry up.” She stood up and went back to the cabinet, trading the wipes for a bottle of moisturizer. Upon returning to her friend, she put a blob of lotion in one palm.

“I can do it—” 

She cut Ayumu off by once again putting a finger on her lips. 

“I know you can, but let me spoil you a little, okay?”

Ayumu choked back a sob, but tears still pricked her eyes. She smiled, though, and nodded. She once again closed her eyes, putting her care in Setsuna’s hands. 

Over the next few minutes, a similar process was repeated with the moisturizer. Setsuna took great care to be as gentle as possible, and once again, Ayumu seemed to subconsciously lean into Setsuna’s touches. She looked so vulnerable that it took all of Setsuna’s will not to pull her into a hug and never let go. 

Eventually, though, Setsuna completed her task and pulled back. Again, Ayumu opened her eyes, and again, Setsuna made sure to greet her with a smile. This time, she smiled back, just a little. A tiny knot of anxiety that Setsuna hadn’t even been aware of loosened.

“All cleaned up,” Setsuna said, giving Ayumu a little pat on the knee. “Do you feel okay enough to head back into the living room?”

Ayumu nodded and added a little, “Yeah.” 

Setsuna stood up first and held out a hand to her best friend, helping her up from the stool. Ayumu didn’t let go as they walked back out to the apartment proper, and it struck Setsuna just how soft and warm Ayumu’s hands were. How had she not noticed that before?

Once in the living room, Ayumu took her usual spot on the couch. Setsuna remained standing.

“Do you wanna talk first, or drink first?”

After a moment’s thought, Ayumu replied, “Drink first. It’ll make the talking easier.”

While it hurt to hear said so plainly, it made sense. Setsuna nodded and went into the kitchen to grab the bottle of nice whiskey she kept for special occasions. She’d bought it as a birthday present to herself after learning freshman year how much she hated cheap liquor. In short order, she returned to the living room with the whiskey, two shot glasses, some cups, and a bottle of cola.

She sat down next to Ayumu, and ever the gracious host, Setsuna poured a shot for each of them. They clinked their glasses together in cheers and knocked them back.

The quintessential whiskey burn hit the back of Setsuna’s throat, and she felt it go all the way down to her stomach. It was a feeling she was still getting used to, but she resisted the urge to cough. Instead, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and gave her head a quick shake.

Ayumu didn’t fare as well. She downed the shot, but the coughs came quickly. It took her a few tries to fully catch her breath. 

“You still haven’t gotten any better about taking shots, huh?” Setsuna said, trying to inject some levity into the situation.

“Not when it’s whiskey,” Ayumu said after one final cough. “Fuck it, though, pour me another.”

Setsuna’s eyes widened at hearing her friend’s language, but she complied and poured another shot. For herself, she made a whiskey and coke.

“What, you’re not gonna join me?”

“I’ll pass. I hadn’t planned on drinking at all tonight, so I didn’t have time to psych myself up for it.”

Ayumu shrugged as if to say “your loss” and downed her second shot. The results were similar to the first. Meanwhile, Setsuna took a sip of her own drink in solidarity. Once Ayumu stopped coughing, she put the shot glass down, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths. After a long, somewhat shaky exhale, she opened her eyes and looked at Setsuna.

“Yuu rejected me.”

And there it was.

A lot of thoughts went through Setsuna’s head all at once, but all of them eventually came back to one question: Why? Why would Yuu reject  _ Ayumu _ of all people? It went against everything her manga had ever taught her about romance. There was nothing stronger than the love shared by childhood friends!

“What happened?” Setsuna eventually asked after taking another sip of her drink. 

“So I…,” Ayumu sniffled a little. “I went to her place after dinner, right? I got all dressed up, too, because I wanted to look cute.”

“You look more than cute, Pomu.” That earned a small smile before Ayumu continued.

“Of course, when I got there, Yuu opened the door in pajamas, so I immediately felt awkwardly overdressed. We chatted for a little while I worked up the courage to actually tell her. When I finally did, I told her, ‘Yuu, I can’t stand watching you get hurt by these other girls anymore. I love you, and I think I can be the one who makes you truly happy.’ And she… she….”

Ayumu closed her eyes and took a long, shaky breath. When her eyes opened, she glanced down at the table with the alcohol on it. She reached out and poured herself another shot, knocking it back with barely a cough this time. While Ayumu regained her composure, Setsuna discreetly pulled the whiskey bottle closer to herself, out of Ayumu’s reach. Her friend continued without taking notice.

“She said I already made her happy. I thought she was just being dense again, so I just came out and said I wanted to date her. And when I said that, she got this look on her face like she felt sorry for me, and my heart froze. She told me she was done dating for a while because she was tired of having her heart broken.”

Setsuna’s eyes widened. “But! But you would never break her heart! You love her so much!”

Ayumu laughed, but it sounded bitter and ugly. “That’s what I said, too. And she said… I’ll never forget what Yuu said.

“She said, ‘It’s  _ because _ we’ve been friends for so long that I don’t want to date you. You’re like a sister to me, Ayumu.’”

Setsuna’s jaw dropped, and she just sat there, stunned for a moment. Ayumu saw the expression and laughed that same, bitter laugh.

“That was my reaction, too. I think… I think that’s around when I started crying. I didn’t really know what to say, so I just thanked her for being honest with me and left. Then I texted you, and now I’m here, two shots in and ready for another one.”

“Pomu… you’re three shots in, not two,” Setsuna said, gently putting a hand on Ayumu’s knee. Gosh her skin was soft….

“Then I’ll make it four,” Ayumu said, reaching for where the whiskey bottle used to be. When it wasn’t there, she looked around in confusion.

“No you won’t.” Setsuna held up the bottle with a little smirk. “There’s no reason to rush; we’ve got all night to empty this bottle.”

Her friend huffed and pouted, and despite how somber the atmosphere had been, Setsuna couldn’t hold back a laugh. After a moment, Ayumu joined in, and it was the first real, genuine laugh Setsuna had heard from her all night. Even if it was the alcohol laughing, Setsuna much preferred it to the laughter from earlier. 

That broke the tension that had filled the apartment ever since Ayumu arrived. However temporary it might turn out, at that moment, they became two friends drinking together to have fun. 

Setsuna made Ayumu a whiskey and coke and suggested booting up the Switch to play some Super Smashed Bros, a game of SSBU where they had to drink for every death. Ayumu quickly pointed out that she’d be at a disadvantage unless Setsuna took another shot to try and even up the count. Despite her best efforts, Setsuna couldn’t argue with that, so she knocked back another one before turning on the console.

Over the next few hours, the two of them proceeded to almost completely drain the bottle of whiskey. Ayumu definitely had more, but it was fairly close—probably a 60/40 split. Setsuna, despite her smaller stature, had always been able to hold her liquor better, and that still held true. Thankfully, though, it didn’t seem like Ayumu was blackout drunk; Setsuna had wanted to help ease the emotional pain, not make her forget it all together.

Still, they were both pretty drunk.

Setsuna also noticed that Ayumu seemed to be a slightly different kind of drunk than normal. Usually, she was a bubbly, happy drunk, the kind who would compliment strangers in the bathroom. To be fair, she was still acting like that, but there was an added level of touchy-feely that Setsuna hadn’t noticed before. Then again, Ayumu was usually pretty casual with light friendly touches, so the booze must have amplified that.

It was always something simple, innocuous. A little back rub after Setsuna lost a match, fingers brushing against Setsuna’s when they’d pass a cup, a gentle hand briefly resting on Setsuna’s thigh. No individual touch was anything special, but the sum of all of them—added with the alcohol—left Setsuna feeling more than a little flustered. And with that feeling came a certain sense of guilt over it. Ayumu had just been rejected by the love of her life, and there Setsuna was getting all hot and bothered over nothing! 

After yet another loss, Ayumu threw her hands up in frustration then slowly slumped over towards Setsuna. Her head came to a rest on Setsuna’s shoulder, and she let out a happy little hum. Without really thinking, Setsuna reached up with her free hand and gently petted her best friend’s head. Ayumu nuzzled further into Setsuna’s side, causing a warmth in Setsuna’s core that she really wished she could blame on the booze.

“You’re so good to me, Nacchan,” Ayumu said with her face buried in the crook of Setsuna’s neck. Her breath tickled against Setsuna’s skin, and it scrambled Setsuna’s brain enough that it took her a moment to realize what Ayumu had just called her. A little blush crept up at the new nickname.

“What’s with this ‘Nacchan’ so suddenly?”

“Well, all our friends call you ‘Setsu.’ I wanted something that only I call you.”

Setsuna had no idea what to say to that. The thought of a name that only Ayumu called her made her happier than she wanted to admit. Her few remaining sober thoughts figured it was the alcohol talking, but the rest of her figured it couldn’t do any harm to let Ayumu call her that.

“As long as I can still call you ‘Pomu,’ then I’ll allow it.”

“You’re the only one who ever could.”

The two sat in silence for a while, and Setsuna relished in the heat of her best friend curled up against her. It felt like they lived in a frozen moment, stolen from time—a place where they really were just two friends enjoying drinks together. 

Ayumu sighed, shattering that stolen moment together. 

“Pathetic, isn’t it?”

“What is?” Setsuna asked, confusion evident in her tone.

“Me. This whole situation. The fact that I finally got the courage to confess to the love of my life only to get fucking sisterzoned.”

Setsuna gave Ayumu a little one-armed hug. “That’s not pathetic, Pomu. That’s so freaking brave. You put yourself out there, let your feelings reach her. It’s not your fault.”

Ayumu broke free from Setsuna’s hug and stood up in a rush. “Yeah!” She swayed a little bit on her feet then flopped back down onto the couch. “It’s not my fault, it’s Yuu’s!”

“Yeah!” Setsuna said before her brain fully processed what, exactly, she was saying. 

“Just ‘cause she sisterzoned me doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be great to date! I’m a fucking catch!” 

“Hell yeah you are!” 

“I’m fucking hot!”

“You are so fucking hot!” 

The sober part of Setsuna’s brain knew she was getting caught up in the moment, knew that it was the alcohol talking, knew that she shouldn’t be saying these things. But Ayumu was so close. Her eyes kept darting down to Ayumu’s lips, remembering how soft they’d felt against her fingertips and wondering what it’d feel like to kiss them.

Wait! No! Bad! Ayumu had just had her heart broken! This wasn’t the time to get drunkenly horny! Setsuna just had to keep it in her pants and ignore the heat building up in her core.

Thankfully, all that crossed Setsuna’s mind in an instant, and Ayumu was none the wiser. She continued with her little drunken rant.

“Yuu doesn’t know what she’s missing! I could blow her mind.”

Once again, the alcohol spoke before Setsuna could even think. “Hell yeah! I bet you would.”

“She wouldn’t know what hit her. I’d be all like—”

Ayumu leaned in and pressed her lips against Setsuna’s, immediately forcing her tongue into Setsuna’s mouth. The sober part of Setsuna’s brain shut off, leaving only the drunk, horny part that wanted this more than anything. 

God, her lips were so soft, and they tasted divine. The feeling of Ayumu’s tongue in her mouth sent a jolt through Setsuna’s core. She hadn’t kissed anyone in ages, and it felt so  _ fucking _ good. She leaned into the kiss and returned it hungrily.

When the both finally had to breathe, they broke the kiss. After a moment, Ayumu’s dreamy, half-lidded expression shifted to one of shock and… guilt? Setsuna’s heart sank.

“Nacchan, I am so—” 

Setsuna once again put a finger to those gorgeous, soft, delicious lips.

“Give me a moment.”

Setsuna reached for the whiskey and poured herself another shot. As she did, her thoughts kicked into high gear. Obviously Ayumu had been through a lot and wanted to vent her feelings. She’d probably wanted that kiss to be Yuu. And if that’s what Ayumu needed, that’s what Setsuna would offer. She downed the shot and turned back towards Ayumu, who still sat there, eyes wide.

Mind made up, Setsuna got on her hands and knees on the couch and crawled towards Ayumu. The other girl pulled her legs up onto the couch and backed up so her back was against the arm rest. Very slowly, Setsuna moved up to straddle Ayumu’s waist, and she put her hands on either side of Ayumu’s head. She leaned in, stopping when their lips were inches apart.

“Y’know… if you close your eyes, you could pretend you’re kissing Yuu.”

Ayumu reached up and pushed Setsuna back, just enough to where they could look in each other’s eyes.

“I don’t want to kiss Yuu, I want to kiss Setsuna.”

Setsuna blinked a few times. “Pomu, that’s just the whiskey talking—”

“It’s not! It’s not, though…. Nacchan, you’ve made me feel so loved tonight, and I… I want to return that feeling.”

Another knot of anxiety in Setsuna’s stomach untied, and for the first time all night, she didn’t feel guilty about what she wanted to do. So she did it.

Their second kiss was so much better than the first. Both knew it was coming, so both were willing and active participants. Setsuna ran her tongue along Ayumu’s bottom lip, wanting nothing more than to taste her. Ayumu’s tongue met Setsuna’s, and they danced around each other. Then Setsuna pulled hers back and gently bit Ayumu’s lip, eliciting a gasp. The sound sent a shock through Setsuna and made her very aware of a growing heat and wetness between her legs.

Setsuna wanted more. She knew she shouldn’t, but she did. With their lips still entwined, she kept one hand on the arm rest for support and moved the other down to rest on Ayumu’s hip. She cautiously slipped the hand under Ayumu’s shirt to gently caress the bare skin on the side of Ayumu’s stomach. That earned a moan that turned Setsuna on even more.

Emboldened by Ayumu’s reaction, Setsuna slid her hand up Ayumu’s stomach, relishing in how soft her skin was. She stopped when she felt the fabric of Ayumu’s bra and resisted the urge to go further.

Setsuna broke the kiss, but only pulled back just enough for her to speak.

“Pomu, I want to touch you so badly right now.”

“Then let me make it easier for you.” The feeling of Ayumu’s hot breath against her lips muddled Setsuna’s ability to listen, and it took her a few moments to comprehend what Ayumu had actually said.

Ayumu gently pushed Setsuna back and sat up. In one smooth motion, her blouse came off, thrown somewhere onto the floor. Setsuna couldn’t help but stare at Ayumu’s chest, admiring the cute, sexy bra she wore. It was lacy and pink, and holy  _ shit _ did it make her tits look amazing. A blush crept onto her cheeks at having such a thought, but it was true.

While all of that went through Setsuna’s head, Ayumu reached behind her back and unhooked the clasps of the very bra Setsuna was busy staring at. It took her a few tries due to the alcohol, but Setsuna didn’t seem to notice. Ayumu held one arm against her chest to keep the bra in place as she got out of the straps. Then she deftly swapped arms, keeping her chest hidden while removing the bra entirely and chucking it somewhere else to be found later.

Now completely topless, but still covering her chest with her arm, Ayumu laid back down on the couch and smiled up at Setsuna. It was such a sultry smile, filled with a longing and a hunger, and god was it fucking hot. Another wave of arousal coursed through Setsuna’s body.

“So what are you gonna do to me now?” Ayumu whispered in a husky voice that immediately awakened Setsuna to a newfound voice kink.

“M-move your arm, and I’ll show you,” Setsuna replied, internally cursing that she ruined such a cool line with a stutter.

That smile never left Ayumu’s face as she slowly lowered her arm, completely exposing her chest. Her breasts were a little larger than Setsuna’s own, and her nipples were already perked up. 

Setsuna reached down and cupped Ayumu’s breasts, giving them a testing squeeze. They were just a little too big to fit entirely in Setsuna’s hands, and the entire feeling was so different to when Setsuna would touch her own while masturbating. Ayumu’s eyes fluttered a little, but that smile stayed in place, like it was taunting Setsuna to do more. 

She wanted to take it a little slow, though; she didn’t know if she’d ever get to do this again. So she spent a languid minute simply fondling Ayumu’s chest. Towards the end, Ayumu whimpered a little, clearly wanting more, and Setsuna decided to give it to her.

Leaning down, Setsuna planted a kiss on Ayumu’s stomach, right above the waistband of her skirt. That earned a small gasp from Ayumu. Setsuna proceeded to trail kisses all the way up the other girl’s stomach, continuing up between her breasts, and stopping right at the space between the clavicles. Ayumu was squirming at that point, and Setsuna finally gave her what she wanted.

She kissed down one breast until her mouth reached the nipple. Her tongue circled it a few times before she finally closed her mouth around it. The moan Ayumu let out was music to Setsuna’s ears.

The next few minutes passed with some extended nipple play. Setsuna loved licking them and sucking them and gently flicking them with her fingers, and the reactions from Ayumu spurred her to do more. At one point, she gently grazed her teeth against one, and Ayumu jerked a little and let out a quiet “fuck.”

“Did you like that, Pomu?” Setsuna asked, unable to keep the smug satisfaction out of her voice. To punctuate the question, she lightly pinched the other nipple.

“Yes,” Ayumu gasped. “Now do it  _ harder.” _

Setsuna’s eyes widened at both the command itself and the absolute hunger with which Ayumu said it. But fuck was it hot hearing her say that. After an order like that, Setsuna could do nothing but obey. 

This time, instead of a gentle graze, Setsuna actually bit Ayumu’s nipple—softly at first, but gradually increasing the force as Ayumu let out a long, loud moan. Finally, Ayumu pushed Setsuna’s head away, panting heavily.

“Nacchan…,” she said between breaths. “Listen closely. I want you to fuck my brains out. And don’t you dare forget about my nipples. Can you do that for me?”

Once again, Ayumu’s positively vulgar language took Setsuna off guard, and all she could do was nod in response. Ayumu smiled, but it was softer than the hungry smile she’d had earlier.

“That’s a good girl.”

Setsuna almost came on the spot. 

As it was, she couldn’t stop the shudder that ran down her spine or the long, low moan that escaped her lips. The combination of Ayumu’s sultry voice and the soft, loving praise hit both of Setsuna’s most prominent non-physical kinks. When Setsuna opened her eyes again, she saw Ayumu lying there with a smug, knowing grin. A blush crept onto Setsuna’s cheeks.

To distract from her embarrassing reaction, Setsuna blindly reached under Ayumu’s skirt and rubbed a finger along her panties. They were absolutely soaked. Ayumu’s eyes fluttered at the indirect contact with her core, and it was Setsuna’s turn to grin.

She spent a few moments teasing Ayumu, enjoying the way Ayumu fidgeted and whimpered. Finally, Setsuna gave her what she wanted. Slipping a hand under the waistband, she touched Ayumu’s pussy directly, slowly rubbing one finger up between her lips and ending with a light flick to her clit.

Ayumu gasped, and her whole body clenched. As soon as she relaxed, Setsuna slipped one finger inside while simultaneously leaning down to bite a nipple. Once again, Ayumu’s whole body tensed up—accompanied by a no-so-quiet “fuck”—and Setsuna loved the way Ayumu clenched around her finger.

For the next few minutes, Setsuna thrust her finger in and out of Ayumu’s pussy, all while licking, sucking, and biting her nipples. Ayumu’s moans were becoming louder and more frequent.

Between panted breaths, Ayumu said, “I thought… I told you… to fuck my brains out! Fuck me  _ harder!" _

Setsuna shuddered at the commanding tone of voice, and holy shit her own underwear must be ruined by now. But she followed Ayumu’s order. 

She immediately thrust a second finger in, feeling the way Ayumu clenched even tighter around the extra digit. Her thrusts became faster and deeper, and the nipple play got rougher. After barely a minute of the harder pace, Ayumu began to tense up. Sensing her nearing climax, Setsuna removed her mouth from Ayumu’s chest to kiss her hard, roughly thrusting her tongue in Ayumu’s mouth the same way her fingers were thrusting into her pussy.

Ayumu came. Hard. She practically screamed into Setsuna’s mouth, and Setsuna couldn’t resist the temptation to bite her lower lip as she did. She slowed the pace of her fingers, going just fast enough to help Ayumu ride out her climax. Once her friend finally went limp, she removed her fingers and pulled her hand out from under Ayumu’s skirt.

It took a few moments for her to come down from the orgasm. Once she did, Setsuna looked her in the eye and sucked on the fingers that had just made her cum. She’d never tasted another woman before, and it was a little odd. But the simple fact of how fucking hot it was made that not matter in the slightest. Ayumu’s expression, meanwhile, turned from dreamy to hungry as she watched Setsuna suck her fingers dry.

As soon as Setsuna removed her fingers from her mouth, Ayumu shot up and kissed her, immediately putting her tongue in Setsuna’s mouth. It wasn’t a long kiss, but it still left both of them breathless.

“Bedroom… now…,” Ayumu said between breaths. “You tasted me, now I want to taste you.”

That sent a shiver down Setsuna’s spine, and she immediately got off the couch and helped Ayumu to her feet. Without warning, Ayumu again pulled Setsuna in for a kiss as they stumbled through the living room towards the bedroom. Setsuna wrapped her arms around Ayumu’s neck while Ayumu put her hands on Setsuna’s hips. 

It didn’t take long, though, for Ayumu’s hands to wander up under Setsuna’s pajama shirt, leaving goosebumps in their wake. The touch was intoxicating, and she moaned into Ayumu’s mouth. As Ayumu’s hands crept higher, they brushed the underside of Setsuna’s breasts and stopped. Ayumu broke the kiss and pulled back, grinning and licking her lips. Then she leaned in to whisper directly into Setsuna’s ear.

“Such a naughty girl, Nacchan—not wearing a bra.”

The combined effect of Ayumu’s hands, the hot breath against her ear, the dirty talk, and the sultry tone of voice caused Setsuna to moan louder than she had all night. She became increasingly aware of the wetness between her legs. 

She didn’t know how to respond, so she turned her head and gently bit Ayumu’s neck. The other girl groaned a little and sped up their pace to the bedroom. Once Setsuna’s legs hit the foot of the bed, they broke the kiss. 

Ayumu grabbed the bottom of Setsuna’s shirt and began pulling it up. Setsuna offered no resistance and actually held her arms up to make it easier. The cool air from the AC hit her now-naked torso, and the accumulated sweat caused her to shiver. Then Ayumu pushed her back onto the bed and quickly followed after her. Having Ayumu tower over her like that made her more excited than she cared to admit. 

Ayumu leaned down, pressing their bodies together, and kissed Setsuna long and slow. Once they were both out of breath, she languidly started kissing down Setsuna’s neck, occasionally leaving a little bite. Then she kissed down Setsuna’s chest, mirroring what Setsuna had done earlier. When she reached Setsuna’s breasts, she paused long enough in her kisses to give each nipple a single, teasing flick of the tongue that made Setsuna’s breath catch. She continued kissing down Setsuna’s stomach, each touch of her lips raising goosebumps, until she finally reached the waistband of Setsuna’s shorts.

“May I?” Ayumu asked from between Setsuna’s legs. The sight was everything Setsuna had ever wanted.

_ “Please.” _

Ayumu’s hungry grin sent a shiver down Setsuna’s spine. Her shorts were gone in a flash, and Ayumu stared at her panties for a moment.

“My goodness, Nacchan, you’re positively soaked. You got so horny getting me off, didn’t you?”

“Y-yes….” Setsuna’s face lit up at admitting something so dirty. Ayumu leaned further in between Setsuna’s legs.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” The feeling of Ayumu’s hot breath against her core—even through the fabric of her underwear—made Setsuna’s head spin.

“P-please.”

“Have you been a good girl?” 

Setsuna shuddered. “I’ve been a good girl, Pomu. Please, please make me cum!”

“Well, since you asked so nicely.” Ayumu leaned forward and planted a kiss right on the wet spot of Setsuna’s underwear. 

A jolt of electricity shot through Setsuna’s body, and she gasped at the unfamiliar sensation. She barely noticed as her underwear was removed, but she very clearly noticed the sensation of Ayumu’s breath against her bare pussy.

Something warm, wet, wide, and a little rough traveled all the way up her core, from entrance to clit, and Setsuna’s eyes almost rolled back in her head. She moaned louder than she ever had in her life at the feeling of Ayumu’s tongue licking her most intimate place. 

Ayumu proceeded to use her tongue to taste every square inch of Setsuna’s pussy. The long, slow licks with the flat of her tongue felt fantastic between Setsuna’s lips, and sometimes she’d tease specific areas with the tip. It felt nothing like when Setsuna used her fingers or vibrator to masturbate. 

When Ayumu slipped the tip of her tongue inside her, Setsuna almost screamed in pleasure. Her legs clenched together, almost squishing Ayumu’s face between them, and Setsuna reached down to grab fistfulls of Ayumu’s hair and hold her in place. 

“Yes… yes… Pomu, please, just like that, please keep going, Pomu, please make me cum!”

Setsuna kept babbling in between moans as Ayumu proceeded to tongue-fuck her. When Ayumu reached up a hand to play with Setsuna’s clit, it was all over. All of the pent-up sexual frustration that had been building since they started drinking burst. Setsuna came harder and longer than she ever had in her whole life. Throughout it all, Ayumu’s tongue was inside her, greedily lapping up the juices. 

When Setsuna finally came-to, she just stared at the ceiling and tried to get her breath back. She felt the bed shifting around, and Ayumu’s face appeared in her field of vision, a serene smile on her face and her lips looking incredibly wet. 

“Did you know that you’re gorgeous when you cum?” she asked sweetly. Setsuna blushed at the blunt, vulgar compliment. “You’re also delicious. Have a taste.”

Without any more warning, Ayumu leaned in for a kiss. Setsuna automatically returned it, and she immediately noticed the new, strange taste on Ayumu’s lips. She was? Tasting herself? It felt strange, but Setsuna would be lying if she said it didn’t excite her a little. When they broke the kiss, Setsuna returned Ayumu’s original smile.

“That was amazing, Pomu.” She paused and blushed even more at what she was about to say. “Um, if you wanted to keep going… there’s something I’d like to try….”

Ayumu nodded, and they quickly repositioned themselves. Ayumu was on her back while Setsuna sat on the bed next to her legs. Setsuna reached into her nightstand and pulled out her favorite vibrator before showing it to Ayumu. It was a classic smooth design, about six inches long and an inch in diameter.

“I thought I could use this on you.”

Ayumu’s eyes widened a little, and a faint blush dusted her cheeks. “I’ve, um… never used a vibrator before. Or any kind of toy…. I’ve always just used my hands.”

“Then if you’re okay with it, I’d like to be your first.”

“You’ve been my first for everything else so far, so why not.” Ayumu smiled. “I’m in your capable hands.”

“First, let’s finally get you out of this skirt.” It only took them a moment to do so, and Setsuna very much enjoyed throwing said skirt over her shoulder to land who-knew-where. The panties came off just as quickly, and in the back of her mind, she idly noticed that they matched the bra from earlier. That was kinda hot.

Ayumu propped herself up a little so she wasn’t flat on her back, then spread her legs. Setsuna took a moment to admire her pussy and couldn’t help leaning in and taking a single taste. That earned a sigh of pleasure from Ayumu. Then she used the toy to rub between Ayumu’s lips, getting it slick from her juices and providing some basic stimulation. 

“So I’m gonna start by putting it in without the vibrate on, okay Pomu?” Setsuna said, continuing the gentle rubs. “I want you to get used to how it feels inside you, since it’s quite a bit bigger than your fingers. Tell me if you want to stop, alright?”

She nodded “I trust you.”

Setsuna positioned the vibrator at Ayumu’s entrance and gently thrust it in. Ayumu gasped at the new sensation, and the resistance increased as she tensed up. Setsuna paused and let her relax before continuing. Once it was a few inches deep, she paused again.

“How does that feel?”

“Different, but… not bad.” Ayumu let out an embarrassed laugh. “You were right that it’s a lot bigger than my fingers.”

“It can also reach a lot deeper than your fingers,” Setsuna said, thrusting it in even further. That earned a quiet “fuck” from Ayumu. 

Over the next few minutes, Setsuna slowly fucked Ayumu with the vibrator, letting her get used to the feeling. Eventually, though, Ayumu said she was ready for the actual vibration function. When it turned on, she screamed and would have fallen off the bed if not for Setsuna pinning her down. She never said to stop, though, so Setsuna didn’t.

This was the wildest Ayumu had been all night, and it was incredibly hot watching her slowly unravel. Soon enough, she was crying “more” and “faster” and “harder,” and Setsuna’s wrist and arm were honestly starting to wear out at how hard she was fucking Ayumu.

“Nacchan, I need you to bite me right now, anywhere, I don’t care, I’m so fucking close.”

Setsuna instantly obliged, leaning in and biting the soft, pale skin on Ayumu’s inner thigh. She came immediately with one last long “fuck.” Once her climax ended, her body went limp, and she collapsed back into the pile of pillows, panting heavily.

She looked so cute and peaceful in her post-orgasm glow, and Setsuna moved up to curl next to her, resting a hand on her stomach. Still panting a little, Ayumu’s eyes fluttered open, and she turned her head to look at Setsuna. Her smile was gorgeous.

“So mind telling me where you got that thing?” she asked with a little laugh.

Setsuna laughed along with her. “If I tell you now, you’ll probably forget. I’ll tell you when we’re sober.”

A moment of cold realization settled into the pit of Setsuna’s stomach. That’s right; they were both drunk. All of this only happened because they were drunk, and Ayumu was sad about getting rejected, and Setsuna was too fucking horny for her own fucking good.

“You’re so good at making me cum, Nacchan,” Ayumu said, reaching a hand up to grab Setsuna’s breast and tease her nipple. “If you’ll let me, I’d like to return the favor.”

…Fuck it. Even if this meant nothing to either of them in the morning once they were sober, it meant something to Setsuna now. She deserved to be happy every now and then, right?

“I’d love that, Pomu.”

Ayumu smiled and leaned in for another kiss. It took Setsuna off guard at how soft and gentle this kiss was compared to all their others so far. The sense of… hunger wasn’t there, instead replaced by a much calmer sort of compassion. That stark contrast caused an entirely new feeling to bloom in her chest—one she either couldn’t name, or simply didn’t want to. 

With their lips still locked, Ayumu rolled Setsuna over, effectively flipping their positions: Setsuna was on her back, legs spread slightly, while Ayumu kneeled next to her. One hand was still idly playing with Setsuna’s breast, and the other slowly slid down her stomach. She shivered when that hand reached its target, sliding a finger up and down between her lips, letting the palm graze against her clit. 

Ayumu broke the kiss to whisper in Setsuna’s ear. “What do you want me to do to you?”

“Anything you want.” Setsuna gasped as a finger gently flicked her clit.

“Good girls are more specific with what they want…. You are a good girl, aren’t you?”

Setsuna couldn’t believe how fucking turned on those words made her. “I’m a good girl! I want your fingers inside me!”

As soon as the words left Setsuna’s mouth, Ayumu thrust two fingers inside, all the way to the base. Setsuna buried her face in the crook of Ayumu’s neck and screamed in pleasure. Ayumu didn’t waste any time, fingering Setsuna harder and faster than she’d ever done to herself while masturbating. And it felt better than she ever could have imagined. She was completely at Ayumu’s mercy, and holy  _ fuck _ was it hotter than anything had any right to be.

Almost immediately after Ayumu began, Setsuna clamped her teeth onto the pristine skin of Ayumu’s neck. Ayumu barely paid it any mind and whispered sweet encouragements into Setsuna’s ear. Soon, Setsuna used the bites as her way to communicate what felt good—the harder the bite, the better Ayumu’s actions felt, and the other girl picked up on that pretty fast.

The coil in Setsuna’s core was tightening more than it ever had before, and when a third finger pushed inside her, she bit down hard enough to think she may have broken the skin. Ayumu hissed a little, but she got the message and quickened her pace even more.

“Fuck, you liked that, didn’t you? You wanna cum so badly, don’t you? Be a good girl and cum for me, Yuu.”

Everything stopped. 

Ayumu stopped moving her hand. Setsuna stopped breathing. Tears pricked her eyes, and she tried to blink them away.

Ayumu started to pull her fingers out. “N-Nacchan, I am—” 

Setsuna grabbed Ayumu’s wrist, stopping her from pulling out. “Don’t you fucking  _ dare _ stop when I’m so close,” Setsuna growled in a voice she could hardly believe was hers.

She kissed Ayumu. Hard. Their teeth clacked together, but she didn’t pay it any mind. Instead, she bit down on Ayumu’s lip, and she thought she tasted the metallic tang of blood. To Ayumu’s credit, she didn’t try to say anything else and continued fucking Setsuna just as hard as she had been before.

It felt wonderful, and Setsuna loathed every second of it. She tried to turn her brain off, stop thinking, only focus on the physical, close her eyes and pretend she was masturbating. But she couldn’t ignore the mouth on hers, the body pressed against hers, the fingers inside her that weren’t her own, fucking her better than she ever could have dreamed. 

She wasn’t who Ayumu wanted, though.  _ I’m not Yuu. I’m a replacement, a stand-in. That’s all this was.  _

_ But she said she wanted to kiss me…. _

The coil inside her snapped, and Setsuna came harder than she ever had before. It was the worst orgasm of her life. 

When her climax subsided, she laid back in a daze. Instead of a happy afterglow, a mental fog set in, muting the world around her. Ayumu’s face appeared in her field of vision, looking so concerned that it almost made Setsuna cry on the spot. She once again blinked the tears away, and glanced down, unable to look her friend in the eye. Unfortunately, that put her gaze squarely on Ayumu’s lips, and Setsuna started leaning forward without thinking.

She stopped.

She pulled back, not noticing that Ayumu had also started to lean in.

The silence hung between them.

Ayumu swallowed. “Nacchan, I—” 

“It’s okay, Pomu. We’re both still drunk,” she lied, having never felt more sober in her life, “and it’s been a long day. A lot has happened. Why don’t we just go to sleep, alright?”

Ayumu looked like she wanted to say something, but she stopped herself and just nodded. Setsuna rolled onto her side, facing away from Ayumu. A moment later, she felt something warm and soft press against her back, and an arm folded over her waist to rest on her stomach. She felt legs intertwine with hers. She felt a nose press into the nape of her neck.

Setsuna couldn’t blink back the tears this time.

It all felt so good, the reminders of an evening that may as well have been a dream. If only it hadn’t ended like a nightmare.


	3. A Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a rejection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing new to warn about this chapter. If you made it through the last one, you can make it through this one. Hope you enjoy!

The first thing Ayumu noticed after waking up was the long, silky smooth black hair that her face was buried in. The second thing she noticed was the extra pair of legs intertwined with her own. The third thing she noticed was something warm, soft, and squishy in her hand. The fourth thing she noticed was that she was naked. 

And that’s when she noticed the headache.

Ayumu shut her eyes tight and hissed in a breath through clenched teeth. Her brain felt three sizes too big for her skull, and the pain was intense. With her eyes closed, it felt like her body was spinning in place. The terrible aftertaste of booze stuck to her tongue. She curled tighter around whatever she clung to, and it was only when it moved that she realized it was a person. And she was spooning them. 

A poor, overworked neuron fired off in her brain, bringing with it a memory of where she was. She swore her whole body flushed red when she realized the implications of that: namely  _ who _ she was spooning. And with that realization, she also figured out what was in her hand.

She let go of Setsuna’s breast, hoping that it wouldn’t wake the other girl up. Unfortunately, she couldn’t figure out where to place her hand. Almost instinctively, she wanted to place it on the curve of Setsuna’s hip, but that would be embarrassing. She couldn’t drape it over Setsuna’s stomach for the same reason. Finally, she awkwardly brought her arm back to rest along her own side. She tried to take stock of her situation.

Ok, so…. She was in bed, spooning with Setsuna. And they were both naked. And as more of her brain slowly came online, she discovered that various, specific places on her body were  _ incredibly _ sore, but not in a bad way. It wasn’t necessarily painful like she’d hurt herself; it felt more like she’d done a lot of very strenuous exercise.

Another neuron lit up.

They’d had sex last night.

And… the more Ayumu remembered about what they’d done… the more she remembered liking it. And the more she remembered liking it, the guiltier she felt. She loved Yuu, but had sex with Setsuna! And she’d enjoyed it!

Wait.

Yuu….

Yuu had… rejected her. And Ayumu had run back to Setsuna, crying like a pathetic little baby. And Setsuna had welcomed her with open arms and a warm smile and a gentle touch and just… so much compassion that Ayumu had to fight back the tears just remembering it. Setsuna had dropped everything to make Ayumu feel better. And what did she do in return?

She got drunk and took advantage of her best friend’s kindness. Took advantage of her best friend’s  _ everything. _

After the self-loathing, though, another memory stirred. A memory of Setsuna being the one to ask for more, of Setsuna looking at her with lust and desire. Had? Had Setsuna wanted this? As more details about their night together filtered in, she couldn’t remember any indication that Setsuna had ever been unwilling. In fact, most of the memories revolved around Setsuna being a  _ very _ enthusiastic participant. One very prone to… biting.

Shit, was  _ that _ why Ayumu’s nipples felt so sore? She blushed again as she mentally took stock of the various places that hurt and tried to correlate them to events she could remember. The inside of her thigh had been from when Setsuna used the vibrator. (She still needed to ask about the brand.) Her nipples hurt from, well… most of the night. There was a particularly tender spot on the side of her neck, and an embarrassed, yet satisfied, smile formed at the memory of how Setsuna had turned to putty in her hands. 

Her bottom lip was the last place that felt particularly tender, but given all the kissing she remembered—combined with Setsuna’s apparent tendencies—she wasn’t too surprised. Ayumu gently ran her tongue along the inside of her lip and winced when it crossed a barely healed cut. What on earth? She couldn’t imagine Setsuna would have bitten  _ that _ hard without a good… reason…. 

A cold lump of dread settled in the pit of Ayumu’s stomach. Very slowly and deliberately, she untangled herself from Setsuna, breaking all physical contact. The soft, pleasant warmth of her skin had turned into a burning fire as the final memory of the previous night clicked into place.

Oh god. What had she done?

Ayumu rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She knew she’d fucked up, possibly beyond repair. Under any reasonable circumstance, saying the wrong name during sex was a Bad Thing. Add to that the rejection, the drinking, the things they’d said to each other the entire night leading up to that….

She didn’t know what to do.

Maybe… maybe Setsuna wouldn’t remember any of it? Maybe she got blackout? But wait, that’d be bad for a whole  _ different _ host of reasons, and if anything those were worse. Maybe she would ignore it? Not bring it up? No, that wouldn’t be good, either, at least not in the long run.

She shut her eyes tight, almost wishing her headache was bad enough to keep her from thinking about this. Unfortunately, the pain behind her eyes was nothing compared to the pain inside her heart. Setsuna was her best friend…. 

Ayumu well and truly had no idea what to do.

So she got out of bed.

##########

The first thing Setsuna noticed when she woke up was how cold it was—she must have kicked off her blankets at some point. The second thing she noticed was that she was naked. 

And that’s when she noticed the headache.

Not for the first time in her life, she thanked whichever deity watched over her for her decent alcohol tolerance. While the headache wasn’t exactly  _ fun, _ she’d had worse from getting the flu, and a headache was luckily the only hangover symptom she experienced.

On the other hand, that meant the events of the previous night came screaming back into her brain without the haze of alcohol as a buffer. It was a small mercy that the drunkenness had kept her dreams safe. 

She and Ayumu had had sex last night. 

And it had felt… incredible. Everything they did together had been so wonderful and magical and everything that her more… adult manga had made it sound like. It had been the best she could ever remember feeling.

Right up until the moment it all fell apart.

Setsuna blinked back tears that had started to form. She never would have imagined that three letters could ruin an entire night of pleasure. Not just ruin—taint. It recontextualized everything that had happened. It turned an evening of… healing? Release? Comfort? Setsuna didn’t quite know what it had been at first. But afterwards, she knew with perfect clarity that it had all just been a rebound. 

She was just a replacement, after all. 

What the fuck was supposed to happen now? What would happen between them? Did Ayumu even remember what happened? Morally, wouldn’t it be worse if she didn’t? Were they supposed to talk it out? What would they even say to each other? How do you even start a conversation like that?

Idly, she rolled over in bed to lie on her back. After a moment, she realized something.

Ayumu wasn’t there.

Setsuna jolted upright, wincing at how her headache flared after such a quick movement. Glancing around, she saw no trace of Ayumu in the bedroom. Not even the skirt and underwear that had been… discarded. A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she squeezed her eyes shut to prevent any more.

A clang, followed by a soft curse, came from somewhere outside the bedroom. Setsuna let out a shaky breath she didn’t remember holding. Ayumu hadn’t left. Even after everything, Ayumu hadn’t left her. 

She slowly got out of bed and went over to her dresser. She put on a new pair of underwear and a different set of pajamas. The ones from last night would have to be washed…. And so would the sheets…. Whatever, that was a problem for future Setsuna. Present Setsuna had other things to worry about. She had no idea what would happen when she stepped out of the bedroom, but she knew she couldn’t hide forever. The only way to go was forward.

Opening the door, Setsuna immediately saw Ayumu in the kitchen in front of the stove. It looked like she’d put on her spare pajamas that she kept at Setsuna’s place—just like how Setsuna had a set of her own at Ayumu’s. Considering the jumbled mess in her brain, she tried really hard not to appreciate how Ayumu’s legs looked in her loose shorts, but hormones were a hell of a thing. Setsuna had always known logically that her best friend was very pretty, but she had a whole new appreciation after last night. 

She shook her head, trying to dispel those thoughts. This wasn’t the time.

“Good morning, Pomu,” Setsuna said after a few moments to work up the courage. 

Ayumu whipped around to face Setsuna. A whole host of expressions played across her face in an instant, but she eventually settled on a small, slightly awkward smile. 

“Good morning… Setsu.”

Setsuna’s stomach dropped. After what Ayumu had said last night, being called “Setsu” again hurt more than she would have imagined. Some of that hurt must have shown on her face because Ayumu quickly looked away and turned back to the stove.

“I figured since I woke up first, I should make us some breakfast,” Ayumu continued, speaking over her shoulder. “Just some tamagoyaki and rice. I didn’t know if you had anything planned for the other stuff in your fridge.”

“No, that’s fine, thank you,” Setsuna said. An awkward pause set in as she stood in the entryway to the kitchen. The only sound was the quiet sizzle of cooking eggs. Finally, Setsuna couldn’t take it anymore. “You didn’t have to do this. I’m sure you felt worse than I did this morning.”

She couldn’t help but notice the way Ayumu flinched at that, just a little. Still, when Ayumu spoke, there was an attempt to keep the tone light. 

“It did feel like my brain was trying to come out through my eye sockets. But I needed something to get the taste of whiskey out of my mouth. Um… did you want coffee?”

“I’ll make it, since you’re making the food.” Setsuna finally entered the kitchen, walking over to her coffee machine. Since Ayumu had tried to set a light tone, Setsuna figured she’d try, too. “Too much cream and half a mug of sugar for you? 

“You know just how I like it,” Ayumu said.

Setsuna blushed thinking about just how many ways that was true now. Then she mentally berated herself for thinking something so shameless. Still, when she discreetly glanced over at Ayumu, she noticed a matching blush on her friend’s cheeks. That just made Setsuna blush harder.

A silence fell over the kitchen as they both worked on making breakfast. It was difficult to tell whether or not the silence was awkward, but the longer it went on, the more awkward Setsuna felt. Unfortunately, she had no idea how to break it, so they made it all the way to the table with food on their plates without saying a word. 

After a muttered “thanks for the meal” from both of them, they started eating. It was  _ very _ good, and the first bite made Setsuna realize just how hungry she was. Still, she tried to be polite and take it slow.

“This is good,” Setsuna said after a minute. The silence had finally reached the point where she needed to say  _ something. _

“Thanks. Lots of practice….”

Well great… Setsuna had no idea how to respond. She knew what she  _ wanted _ to talk about—what they really  _ needed _ to talk about—but it was fucking hard to bring it up. Should she just rip the band-aid off and do it? Was there a way to lead into it, somehow steer the conversation that way? But then what would she start off talking with? Ugh, she’d never had this much trouble trying to talk to Ayumu before, not even when they first met. 

“So, um… thanks for letting me come over last night,” Ayumu said, pulling Setsuna out of her thoughts. “And, um, sorry for drinking most of your good whiskey.”

Setsuna waved her hands, slightly panicky. “N-No! It’s fine! I got to drink plenty, too. And it was fun playing with you. Games! Playing video games with you! It was fun playing video games with you.” She mentally facepalmed at how fucking awkward she was being. It shouldn’t be this hard to talk to her friend!

Ayumu blushed a little. “Y-Yeah, I had fun playing video games, too. And, uh, thanks for letting me talk about what happened. Getting rejected. Being with you helped a lot.”

“Of course, that’s what… best friends are for, right?” She hated the brief hesitation before calling Ayumu her best friend. 

There was no response besides a generally affirmative hum, and the conversation died there. They went back to eating. Setsuna went back to thinking about how to bring up what had happened. She still felt at a loss. 

After another few minutes of eating in silence, Ayumu groaned and put her head on the table.

“Pomu? Is everything okay?”

“I don’t know anymore,” she said, voice muffled as she spoke into the table. After another sigh, she sat back up, and there was determination in her eyes. “I think we should address the elephant in the room.”

Setsuna’s heart skipped a few beats, and anxiety pooled in her stomach. Even though this was what she wanted—to actually talk about what happened—she had no idea just  _ what _ Ayumu wanted to talk about. There were quite a few elephants in the room after last night.

“Ok….”

“We had sex last night.”

Her heart skipped another beat, and she looked down. “Yes.”

“And… we both wanted it… right?” Ayumu asked.

Setsuna jerked her head back up after hearing that. She had caught what sounded like an implied admission, and seeing the blush on Ayumu’s face seemed to confirm that. Ayumu held eye contact, and that made Setsuna’s own blush rise up.

“I, um… certainly wanted it at the time.” Both of them winced, and Setsuna specifically wanted to slap herself for phrasing it that way. Still, despite the terrible wording, Ayumu sighed in relief.

“Okay, that at least removes one of my worries because I did, too.”

She really wanted to believe that, but there was a small, three-letter-word-sized sliver of doubt about that. Now wasn’t the time to bring that up, though.

“So then what does that mean? For us?” she asked instead.

“We were drunk,” Ayumu replied quickly. “I’m… not sure if it should mean anything right now. Not right away.”

That… didn’t quite sit well with Setsuna. “So, what, we pretend last night never happened?” she asked, barely above a whisper. “We pretend I didn’t… didn’t give my first time to you?”

Ayumu’s response was just as soft. “You say that like it wasn’t mine, too.” She paused and looked down at the table for a moment. After a sigh, she looked back up. “I don’t want to sweep last night under the rug. But I don’t think either of us is in a state to make big decisions right now.”

Setsuna took a breath to refute that but stopped short. After the knee-jerk reaction, she realized that both of them were in fairly… delicate conditions—both physically and emotionally. She let the breath out in a long sigh, instead. 

“Yeah… probably not. Is this your way of saying we need some space?”

“Maybe? I don’t know. I’m still…. I’m still trying to figure out what my heart wants.”

“I guess that makes two of us,” Setsuna whispered to herself. Then back in her normal voice, she said, “I have one last question.” Ayumu nodded for her to continue. Setsuna steeled herself to ask the one question that had plagued her thoughts since  _ it _ happened. She needed to know if last night  _ meant _ anything to Ayumu, or if… if she had just been a  _ replacement. _

“Did you mean what you said? At the start? About how you… about how you didn’t want to kiss Yuu? You wanted to kiss me?”

Ayumu’s face contorted into an expression of anguish. Setsuna saw the tears well up, and her friend clamped her eyes shut to keep them from falling. She swallowed heavily, eyes still shut, and nodded.

“I think so.”

A single tear fell down Setsuna’s cheek. She didn’t try to stop it or wipe it away. She wouldn’t know what kind of tear it was until she asked her followup question.

“And… and what happened later? When you—”

“I don’t know! I don’t know, okay?” Ayumu’s voice cracked, and tears spilled from now-open eyes. The intensity in her response caught Setsuna off guard a little. “This is why I said I want time. I don’t want to hurt you anymore than I already have, Nacchan, but I don’t want to get hurt anymore, either.”

From somewhere deep within Setsuna’s heart, a single thought rose to the surface.  _ I would never hurt you. _ A few more tears fell, and she wiped them away this time. She still didn’t know what kind they were. 

“Okay. So we’ll give ourselves a few days.”

Another awkward silence set in as neither of them knew what to say, so they both went back to picking at their food. Most of Setsuna’s appetite was gone, though. Thankfully she’d already gotten through most of the tamagoyaki, so most of the hangover hunger was abated. After playing with the scraps on her plate, she looked back up and saw Ayumu doing the same.

“So what happens now?” Setsuna asked, genuinely not knowing what should happen next.

Ayumu let out an embarrassed chuckle. “I don’t really know. I should… probably get home, though—I need a shower, and I’ve already used up enough of your hospitality.”

The horny part of Setsuna’s brain immediately wanted to suggest that they could shower together here, but the rest of her quickly overruled that. After the conversation they just had, taking a shower together was the opposite of giving each other space. Still, that didn’t stop her overactive imagination from going to town. She really hoped her face wasn’t bright red.

“T-That’s fair. I’ll, um… I’ll let you go.”

Ayumu nodded, getting up from the table and putting her plate in the sink. Setsuna’s eyes followed her as she walked into the living room and gathered her things. Setsuna idly took note of the previous night’s outfit bundled up in a heap. Thankfully, Ayumu just lived in another part of the same building, so she didn’t feel the need to change out of her pajamas to get home. With a final wave, Ayumu left, leaving Setsuna still sitting at the table, staring at the door.

What the  _ fuck _ was she supposed to do now?

After everything that had just happened, Setsuna’s brain went into standby mode for a few minutes. She just sat there staring off into space and let herself exist. Everything would probably hit all at once later, but for those few minutes, she was able to escape.

Finally, though, her own sense of responsibility pushed to the forefront of her mind. There were dirty dishes in the sink, and she wanted to give them at least a cursory rinsing off before putting them in the dishwasher. While she worked, her thoughts went to the meal these dishes had made. It had been simple and filling, a good hangover breakfast. If only the conversation that went with it hadn’t been so stressful.

Setsuna shook her head, trying to banish those thoughts. Just clean the dishes. For a wonder, it worked. A few minutes later, she had the bowls and pans in the dishwasher, ready for the load she’d likely run in the evening after dinner. Unfortunately, completing that task left her at a loss for what to do.

She remembered that she needed to wash her sheets. So she did. It was harder to block out the memories this time. Harder not to think about the feeling of Ayumu’s skin, the taste of her lips, the way she— 

A few quick slaps to the cheeks pulled her mind back to the present, and she finished stripping the bed and getting the sheets in the wash. It was almost hypnotic watching them spin, but in a good way. It helped her brain turn off a little bit. The last thing she needed at the moment was to think more.

A shower would probably be a good idea. With her mind still somewhat blank, her body went through the motions. Strip off the pajamas, put them back on the bed for later since she’d barely had them on for an hour, turn the water on, step under the steady stream and feel it wash over her whole body. It felt good. She hadn’t even noticed how stiff and sore parts of her were until the warm water began to relax the aching muscles. The spray hit a portion of her neck, and she hissed a little at the sting it brough. 

Right… that was where Ayumu had bitten her a few times. It had felt really good… a lot better than Setsuna would have imagined. It had felt good to simply… give in like that, to surrender herself wholly and completely, to put her trust in Ayumu’s hands, hands that made her feel so indescribably good in so many ways….

Her hand touching her core broke whatever trance Setsuna had fallen into. Her heart beat quickly, and her breaths were fast and shallow. She swallowed and took a few slow, deep breaths before switching the shower to a cold one. The temperature shock cleared the last hazy, inappropriate thoughts, and she was able to finish the shower in peace. Her teeth were chattering a little by the end.

Once out of the shower and fully dressed, Setsuna found that the same problem from before had cropped back up: 

She had no idea what the fuck to do with her day.

More often than not, a good portion of her weekend plans involved spending time with Ayumu. Since Yuu was never available on weekends, that usually left the two former roommates to themselves. When they’d lived together, they’d been practically inseparable on weekends—whether it was hanging out around town, staying in to binge watch some trashy show, going out to the occasional party, anything. Even now that they lived separately, it was still more common for them to be together than not. 

How was Setsuna supposed to take a break from the best friend she’d ever had? 

Not knowing what else to do, she sat on her couch and put on some generic shounen anime. It was nice because she didn’t have to focus on it too hard. Though that proved to be a double edged sword when it allowed her thoughts to wander back to the last time she’d sat on this couch. And who she’d been with. And what they’d done together.

Okay so clearly a mindless anime wasn’t the way to go. Maybe a really dense, thought-provoking anime that would force her to actively pay attention the whole time? There was a show she’d put off watching for just that reason, so she pulled it up. 

Mid-way through the second episode, she realized she had absolutely no idea what was going on. She’d been spacing out hardcore, stuck in a cycle of accidentally thinking about the previous night then forcing herself to think about nothing at all, back and forth. Her stomach growled, reminding her it was almost time for lunch. Maybe food would help?

It didn’t help much. After a simple meal, Setsuna decided to try gaming. Maybe anime had been too passive, and she needed to keep both her brain  _ and _ hands busy. For a wonder, it seemed to work for a while. A few hours passed, and even though she never stuck with one game for very long, it still killed time. And more importantly, she didn’t keep replaying the events of the previous night every five minutes. Occasionally her mind would wander in that direction between matches, but once a game actually started, her attention shifted back.

Still… those brief snippets of recollection added up over the hours. Every little remembrance of Ayumu’s touch, or the sounds she made, or—fuck—the things she  _ said _ lingered just a little longer than the last. And they only got more vivid as time went on. By early evening, the fact of the matter was inescapable.

She was horny.

After another hour trying to ignore the growing wet spot between her legs, she couldn’t take it anymore. She finally gave in. Maybe if she got herself off, her brain would quiet down. At this point, anything was worth a try. 

With a frustrated huff, she shut off her game and went into the bedroom. She plopped down onto the bed and propped herself up with some pillows. Closing her eyes, she slowly ran her right hand up the inside of her thigh while her left gently cupped her chest through her shirt. The touches felt… good. Familiar. The kind she had done dozens—hundreds—of times before. The first touch against her pussy through her shorts and underwear caused a sigh of pleasure to slip out. Maybe this really was what she needed.

She didn’t feel like taking her time with this, so she quickly slipped off her shorts and underwear and began rubbing her pussy directly. A soft moan escaped her lips, and she squeezed her breast a little harder, teasing the nipple as well. The first few touches always felt so good. 

Her hand began tracing new patterns, different to her usual movements. After a moment, she realized she was subconsciously trying to replicate the motions of Ayumu’s tongue from last night. And there, in her imagination, she could perfectly picture how Ayumu had looked between her legs. Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could get that same feeling. 

“Ayumu….”

The name slipped out on a breathless moan, and Setsuna paused. That wasn’t good. She shouldn’t have her best friend’s name on her lips as she got herself off. How could she get her mind somewhere else?

Yuu… Setsuna liked Yuu, right? So it would be perfectly normal to think about her crush while masturbating, right? Never mind that her name had practically ruined Setsuna’s night not even twenty-four hours ago—that wasn’t Yuu’s fault!

She started rubbing herself again, this time trying to think of the dark-haired woman she’d ostensibly been crushing on for a year. It was easy to picture her face: her warm, vibrant eyes, the near-perpetual smile on her face, her beautiful pi— _ black _ hair. Setsuna tried to picture kissing those soft lips, or the pristine, pale skin of her neck, giving little nips just like she had with—

Yuu hardly wore anything other than baggy clothes, and while they were fashionable, it gave Setsuna trouble when trying to picture her naked. She probably had a similar body type to Ayumu, right? And she knew what Ayumu looked like— 

Ok, so maybe she should just imagine Yuu is between her legs, rubbing her pussy. Yeah, that was good. After some special attention to her clit to make up for lost time, she let out another soft moan. Imagination-Yuu knew just where to touch her, just what to say to her, and… and….

Fuck, this wasn’t working. 

Even though her brain knew last night wasn’t Yuu’s fault, her heart wasn’t ready to let that go. Her body, meanwhile, just wanted to fucking  _ cum, _ and her fingers weren’t doing that fast enough. She reached over to her nightstand, rooted around in the drawer, and found her favorite vibrator. 

It was on and pressed against her clit in the blink of an eye, and the sensation nearly short circuited Setsuna’s brain. It was perfect. No thoughts, only the pleasure of the vibrator. She got it slick with her own juices and quickly thrust it in her pussy. Hard and fast was the name of the game because she just wanted to cum so badly.

Sadly, the frantic thrusting set off two different memories in her brain. She remembered how good it felt watching Ayumu unravel while Setsuna fucked her with this very same vibrator. And she remembered how absolutely indescribable it felt when Ayumu took control and fingered her faster and harder than she had ever done to herself while masturbating. 

Those two memories blended together in Setsuna’s imagination. When she closed her eyes, she could pretend  _ Ayumu _ was fucking  _ her _ with the vibrator this time. It was the best of both worlds. It combined the physical wonder of her favorite vibrator with the emotional wonder of fully placing her trust into Ayumu’s care. 

In the back of her mind, she realized she’d been doing that in non-sexual ways for a long time already.

The mental walls Setsuna had been building all day began to crumble. As her climax built, the only thing on her mind was Ayumu. 

She thought of how they first met and hit it off, becoming fast friends. She thought of how Ayumu had kept her afloat so often during freshman year when she was at some of her lowest points. She thought of how their friendship had grown even deeper after they shared their crushes on Yuu. She thought of just how much time the two of them spent together. She thought of how quickly she had dropped everything last night when Ayumu needed her. She thought of how much it meant to her to have a name only Ayumu called her. She thought of how Ayumu had said she wanted to kiss her and how wonderful that made her feel. 

The coil inside her snapped, and she came with a long moan. As the wave of pleasure washed over her, the only thing on her mind was Ayumu.

Once her orgasm subsided, Setsuna collapsed back onto the bed. As she stared at her ceiling, breathing heavily, a realization hit her harder than her climax had. 

She knew what her heart wanted, but her brain was too afraid to say it.


	4. An Acceptance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of a realization.

A week passed. 

It was the longest week of Setsuna’s life. A ball of anxiety and stress sat in the pit of her stomach 24/7, and none of the anxiety she had previously experienced could hold a candle to it. Test anxiety before finals freshman year? Nothing. The anxiety of waiting for university acceptance letters to come in? Child’s play. Nothing could be worse than thinking she had ruined her first, best friendship.

Oh how she  _ wanted _ to see Ayumu again, to talk to her, to spend time with her… but they’d both agreed. They’d take some time away from each other. Truth be told, though, Setsuna had no idea how long was long enough. The last thing she wanted was to pressure Ayumu by doing something too soon. So she decided to wait. But  _ god _ was it hard.

As if spending time apart from Ayumu wasn’t bad enough, Setsuna had also decided it would probably be best to avoid Yuu for a little bit. She just… didn’t know how to talk to her at the moment. Yuu was the impetus for what happened, even though she hadn’t been directly involved after Ayumu left her apartment in tears. It was all her fault, yet none of it was her fault. It made for a… confusing situation in Setsuna’s mind, and she didn’t feel brave enough to deal with that  _ and _ the Ayumu situation at the same time. So while it may have been cowardly to do so, she had avoided Yuu all week.

Needless to say, it made for a… lonely time. Sure, she had other friends, but all of them were on a more casual level compared to Ayumu and Yuu. It also didn’t help that a disconcerting number of them were Yuu’s exes. While they filled the need for casual companionship, it mostly just made her realize how much she missed her two best friends.

On Friday, a week after everything went to hell, Setsuna sat in her final class of the day, barely paying attention. The professor was droning on and on, speaking more to the blackboard than the students trying to learn, and she just didn’t have the mental strength left to give a damn. When the lecture finally ended, a sense of relief flooded her. She hurried out of the lecture hall and over to the student center. 

She spent the next few hours before dinner trying to work on assignments, though that meant having to practically re-teach herself everything she hadn’t paid attention to. It was slow going. Finally, though, she made enough progress to satisfy herself, and the clock on her phone said it was basically dinner time. With a final, heavy sigh, she put her things away and went to the dining hall to get something to eat.

With food in hand, Setsuna found an empty table off to the side and out of the way. She sat there, hunched over, idly scrolling through apps on her phone as she ate. When she was about half way through her meal, a familiar voice called out.

“Hey Setsu!” 

Setsuna’s head shot up, and she found Yuu standing across the table with a smile on her face, holding her own tray of food. A spike of anxiety shot out from the ball that lived in her stomach, but she couldn’t think of any way to escape without being incredibly rude. She’d just have to grin and bear it.

“H-Hey, Yuu. It’s, um… it’s been a while.”

“I know, right? I’m getting a little tired of eating by myself.” She said it jokingly, but the words still hit Setsuna like a punch to the gut. “Mind if I join you for dinner?”

After that eating alone quip, Setsuna couldn’t say no. She nodded, and Yuu eagerly took a seat. They both spent some time focusing on their food, but the silence only caused that spike of anxiety to keep growing. Setsuna had no idea what to say, though, so she let Yuu make the first move.

Eventually, Yuu sighed. “Okay, I don’t really know how to bring this up casually, so I’ll just throw it out there. I’m assuming you know what happened between me and Ayumu?”

Setsuna looked up from her food, eyes wide. Yuu had an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face, and that was reflected in her voice; there was none of the usual playfulness in her tone.

“Y-Yeah, I do,” Setsuna said, putting her utensils down. “After she… confessed… to you, she came to my place and told me what happened.”

Another sigh from Yuu, but this time, a rueful smile tugged at her lips. “That’s good, I’m glad to hear that. She wasn’t in the greatest shape when she left, so I’m glad she had you there. I thought about texting you, but I figured it was best to let Ayumu decide for herself.” She paused and made eye contact. The rueful smile turned into a more genuine one. 

“Thank you for being there for her when she needed it.”

If Yuu’s earlier words had been a punch to the gut, this was a punch to the heart. Setsuna almost forgot how to breathe, but Yuu continued, not noticing the effect her words had.

“I’ve been giving her some space, but I figured a week was long enough to at least say ‘hi’ again.” She stopped and looked around. “I’m kind of surprised she’s not here eating with you.”

Setsuna looked down at her now-empty plate. "Oh, um... we're also kind of giving each other some space right now."

Yuu didn't say anything right away, and Setsuna was too afraid to look up. As the silence dragged on, though, she couldn't take it and finally lifted her gaze. Yuu's expression was hard. It took all of Setsuna's willpower not to flinch away from the eye contact.

"Setsu. What the fuck happened? I trusted you to keep an eye on her."

Yuu's words stung, but it wasn't anything Setsuna hadn't already said to herself. She had to squash the immediate urge to deny that anything happened and instead considered the situation. She had a choice: lie and try to figure this all out on her own, or tell the truth and hope that Yuu was willing to help. For someone like Setsuna, it was an easy choice.

She sighed, and a light blush settled on her cheeks as she considered what she was about to admit to.

"Okay, so after she came to my place, we started drinking. I tried to make it feel like a normal weekend hangout, y'know? But we... um, we ended up? Having sex?"

Yuu’s jaw dropped, and she blinked a few times in rapid succession. Meanwhile, Setsuna tried her best to maintain eye contact. 

“I’m sorry, what the fuck did you just say?”

“We had sex! Okay?! Is it really that shocking?”

“I mean? Kind of! Ignoring the fact that you two were drinking and I’m sure it was her first time—yours too, I bet—Ayumu’s like a sister to me! And, well… having one of my best friends tell me she fucked my sister is kinda….” She trailed off with a small huff. 

“Okay, you have a point,” Setsuna said, feeling the need to say  _ something. _ She had never seen Yuu get that… protective? She wasn’t quite angry, but the news certainly worked her up in a way that was new to Setsuna.

A sort of awkward silence settled over the table. Setsuna had no idea what to say next, and Yuu seemed to be trying very hard to get her emotions in check. Her deep breaths had an edge to them, but that slowly went away as the silence stretched on. Eventually, Yuu let out yet another deep sigh.

“Okay… so the two of you did… that…,” she said, dragging her hands over her face, “but I never pegged either of you as the type to have one-night stands. What happened the next morning that you’re now avoiding each other?"

Setsuna once again had to fight to maintain eye contact. “We, um… well, we sort of talked it out? A little? But in the end, we decided that we shouldn’t make any big decisions right then and there. Ayumu wanted some time apart to think about things, and I agreed, so we sort of left it at that.”

“Well did you figure out anything on your end?”

“I’m not… sure,” Setsuna said after a moment of thought. That really was the million dollar question, wasn’t it? “So many things happened, and so many more things could  _ still _ happen, and I just… I don’t know.”

“Okay, let me phrase that a different way. What do you want to happen?”

“W-Well Ayumu—”

“I didn’t ask about Ayumu,” Yuu said, her tone sharp, but not unkind. “What do  _ you _ want, Setsu? You need to figure that out before you can hope to resolve what happened. Once you do that, I think everything else will come naturally.”

What does  _ Setsuna _ want. What  _ does _ she want? As she sat there, thoughts swirling around every which way, they all led back to one, inescapable fact.

“I… I want Ayumu.”

“And why is that?” Yuu asked, her tone surprisingly gentle.

Why? Why did her thoughts always lead back to Pomu? Why did every hopeful future have the two of them standing side by side, ready to take on anything? Her heart knew why—had  _ known _ why almost right away—but her brain had always been too afraid to think it. It was time, though. She couldn’t hide from it any longer. So she whispered her truth out into the universe, hoping beyond hope that to speak it would finally make it real.

“Because I’m in love with her.”

Yuu smiled. “Then what are you waiting for?”

It took a moment for Yuu’s words to sink in. Once they did, though, they hit all at once. She was right! What was Setsuna waiting for?! Now that she had finally voiced her truest desire, why should she wait? A part of her still worried that this would rush Ayumu, another part—the part awakened by Yuu’s guidance—decided that she needed to chase this feeling till the end.

Now that she knew it was love, Setsuna intended to shout it loudly enough to reach Ayumu’s heart.

She slammed her hands down on the table (a little harder than intended) and stood up.

“You’re right! Thanks, Yuu, I’m gonna go tell her right now!” She grabbed her empty tray and hurried off, and Yuu’s parting words of encouragement barely registered. 

The trip to Ayumu’s apartment passed by in a blur. Partly because Setsuna practically ran the whole way and partly because her mind was going at a mile a minute. It was like everything about the past week, hell the past few months, had clicked into place. That ball of anxiety that had settled in her stomach began to loosen.

Setsuna finally arrived at Ayumu’s door, slightly out of breath. As she stood there getting it back, she realized two things: First, she had no idea if Ayumu was even home. Second, despite all the activity in her mind during the trip, she hadn’t  _ actually _ thought about what to say. Then again, when had she ever really let that get in the way? She was riding an emotional high!

So she knocked on the door without giving herself another moment to possibly chicken out.

Compared to the trip over, the next few seconds felt like years. Soon enough, though, she heard activity on the other side of the door. Okay, so Ayumu was home. The first hurdle had been cleared. The sounds got closer then abruptly stopped. A long silent moment hung in the air, and Setsuna found herself holding her breath. Finally, though, the deadbolt clicked.

The door cracked open just wide enough to fully reveal Ayumu.

Setsuna’s heart skipped a beat. 

Ayumu looked completely normal, wearing a completely average skirt and blouse, but she had never looked more beautiful.

“Hi Setsu,” she muttered, not quite able to meet Setsuna’s eyes. 

The greeting, both the name choice and overall tone, kind of stung, but it was to be expected. Not even an hour ago, Setsuna’s reaction would have been similar if Ayumu had showed up at her door unannounced. She couldn’t let that get her down, though.

“Hi Pomu! It’s been a while, hasn’t it? How have you been?”

The casual greeting and chipper tone seemed to catch Ayumu off guard a little bit, if her widened eyes were anything to judge by. 

“I’ve been… alright. A little bored, if I’m being honest.”

“I know what you mean,” Setsuna replied with a smile. It was probably a good sign that Ayumu responded so casually, right? “I was wondering if I could come in? I wanted to talk, and I don’t think the doorway is the best place to do that.”

She caught a nervous gulp from Ayumu, but she stepped back and opened the door wider anyway.

“Sure… come on in.” Ayumu gestured for Setsuna to enter. 

Setsuna did so, muttering the customary “please excuse me” before taking off her shoes. Ayumu led her in and over to the couch, and Setsuna took her normal seat on the left side.

“Can I get you anything?” Ayumu asked before sitting down.

“No thanks, I just had dinner.” 

With her duties as a host complete, Ayumu took her customary seat on the right side of the couch, leaving the middle cushion empty. An awkward silence set in, neither of them quite willing to meet the other’s eye. This was where Setsuna’s lack of foresight on what to say bit her in the ass. She could feel the emotional momentum from earlier slipping away, but she just didn’t know  _ how _ to say what she wanted to say. Maybe that wasn’t important. Maybe she just had to do it.

Setsuna took a deep breath and finally made eye contact.

“Pomu, I have… a lot I want to say. And I’m worried that I’ll lose my nerve if I stop part way through, so could you let me get it all out before saying anything?” After a short moment, Ayumu nodded. Okay, here went nothing.

“I’ve… I’ve really missed you this past week. Being apart like that made me realize just how inseparable we’ve been since practically the day we met. More than anyone I’ve ever known, I’ve felt connected to you. You’ve seen me at some incredibly low points, but everytime that happened, you made me feel safe. And the good times we’ve spent together? Going to parties, watching trashy dramas together, just generally hanging out? Those have been the best moments of my life so far.

“I spent a lot of time thinking about what happened between us that night. And I realized that I don’t regret anything we did together. The events surrounding it could have been better, but for that short period of time, you were the only thing that mattered. You’re still all that matters to me. 

“I guess this is my long-winded way of saying… I’m in love with you, Ayumu.”

In the silence that followed, a series of emotions flashed across Ayumu’s face. Setsuna couldn’t see what emotion she settled on, though, because Ayumu pulled her feet up, hugged her knees to her chest, and buried her face in them. That… wasn’t the reaction Setsuna had hoped for.

“W-What’s wrong, Pomu?”

“I’m scared, Nacchan,” she said, her voice muffled. When she looked back up, her expression was full of worry. “I’m scared because I’m in love with you, too, but I….” Ayumu’s breath caught, and she once again hid her face. 

Setsuna’s breath also caught. Ayumu had? Said it back? But the rest of her reaction didn’t make the moment feel as good as Setsuna had hoped it would. Something was still causing Ayumu pain, and she wanted to find out what. She scooted a little closer on the couch.

“What are you scared of, Pomu? Being in love?” Ayumu shook her head. “Are you scared of being in love with  _ me?” _ A more emphatic shake of the head, and a little knot of anxiety untied in Setsuna’s stomach. So if that wasn’t it… what else could it be?

“Are you… scared of being in a relationship?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Ayumu nodded, still hiding her face.

“Then we don't have to do anything like that, yet,” Setsuna said, trying to put as much compassion and understanding in her voice. “We can wait till you're ready.”

Ayumu’s head shot up. “But that's not fair to you, Nacchan!” she said, and the intensity of her response took Setsuna off guard. “You're always putting my needs first, always putting yourself second, and I... I just don't understand why.”

“Because I love you, Pomu.”

“But I don't want to hurt you! I don't want you to sacrifice your happiness for me!” Ayumu’s voice caught, and tears pricked her eyes. Her expression was so full of anguish. “You deserve so much more than that....”

Setsuna was taken aback at how much pain was packed into that. But this wasn’t the first time Ayumu had expressed worry over hurting her. Time to nip that idea in the bud.

“Ayumu, I want you to look at me.” After a moment’s hesitation, Ayumu looked up and met Setsuna’s gaze. “I have never once sacrificed my happiness for yours. Do you know why? Because even before I fell in love, your happiness is my happiness. And if you love me back, then it’s a two-way street. Whatever happiness I give to you, you give right back in return.”

Silence hung in the air. 

Ayumu began to sob.

That was all the excuse Setsuna needed to close the remaining distance between them. She pulled Ayumu into a hug and simply let her cry. She didn’t  _ quite _ understand what had caused such an intense reaction, but the “why” didn’t really matter at the moment. All that mattered was helping Ayumu get these feelings out. After a few minutes, the sobs slowed down.

“You better tell me if I’m taking too much and not giving enough in return, okay?” Ayumu said between sniffles.

It clicked in Setsuna’s mind. The reason Ayumu was afraid of a relationship. She’d spent most of her young adult life with a fully one-sided crush on Yuu. She’d spent years giving love only to get nothing in return—at least, not the love she wanted. And after what happened, she didn’t want to do the same to Setsuna. In a rush of boldness, Setsuna lightly kissed Ayumu’s temple.

“The fact that you’re worried about that to begin with means you’re already giving more than you think. But I promise.”

The tension left Ayumu’s body, and Setsuna felt her relax in her arms.

“You better keep that promise,” Ayumu said, sounding incredibly drained. “I don’t want my girlfriend to be a liar.”

The words took a moment to sink in. When they did, though, Setsuna turned to look at Ayumu so quickly she thought her neck might snap. Ayumu’s eyes were still red-ringed and a little puffy, and her nose was still a little runny, but she was smiling. It was the most beautiful sight Setsuna had ever seen. Still, she wanted to make absolutely sure.

“So you? Want to go out with me?”

Ayumu’s smile grew wider. “Yeah.”

Setsuna leaned in and kissed her girlfriend.


	5. An Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of an acceptance.

Months passed.

It was amazing how quickly dating Ayumu became the new normal. Then again, the more Setsuna thought about it, the more she realized not much really changed. They still got lunch together between classes, still hung out most evenings, still spent most weekends glued at the hip. The only real physical change was the addition of kissing and sex, and neither of them was complaining about that.

Still, despite not much of their actual routine changing, it was amazing how new it all felt. Being together added a whole new level of intimacy, both physically and emotionally. In the early weeks, Ayumu had been _very_ concerned about not giving enough in the relationship, but Setsuna kept reassuring her until the point was finally driven home: Their love was a two-way street. 

The last remaining specter from that night had been what happened between Ayumu and Yuu. It had taken a few more days for them to finally talk to each other again. Yuu had tried to put it behind them right away and get things back to normal, but it had taken Ayumu a little more time to get there. Yuu understood, though, and gave her the time and space she needed. Eventually, though, things went back to normal. Or rather, the new normal.

Setsuna was just happy to finally have both of her best friends back. 

Towards the end of the semester, Setsuna and Ayumu collapsed on the bed together, completely exhausted but in the best way. They’d both completed their last final, and to celebrate, they had some frankly quite amazing sex. After showering together, they simply basked in the afterglow together. 

“It had been a while since we last went that hard, huh?” Ayumu said after a few minutes of comfortable silence.

Setsuna chuckled at that. “Stressing out over finals isn’t the most conducive to good sex, babe.”

“But boy does it make the sex afterwards feel great. I don’t even know how many new marks you gave me, Ms. Setsuna Bitey.”

Even now, after months together, Ayumu still knew how to make Setsuna blush. She tried to hide her embarrassment by burying her face in the crook of Ayumu’s neck. Then, even though it proved Ayumu’s point, she lightly nipped the soft skin there in protest. That earned a laugh from her girlfriend.

“See? There you go again,” Ayumu teased, hugging Setsuna closer. 

“You know I’d stop if you actually didn’t like it,” Setsuna muttered against her girlfriend’s skin, the pout clearly evident in her voice. “But you’re the one who keeps asking me to do it harder.”

“And you’re such a good little girl for obliging me every time.”

A shudder ran down Setsuna’s spine, and Ayumu couldn’t hold back her laughter. 

“Pomuuuuuuuuu! You can’t just say something like that outside of the moment! It’s embarrassing!”

“But your reactions are always so cute, Nacchan! And you already have my word that I’ll never do that in public, anyway. If you really want me to stop, though, I will.”

Setsuna snuggled even further into Ayumu’s embrace. “No… you don’t have to stop.”

“Good, then I won’t.” Ayumu kissed the top of Setsuna’s head, and the two settled back into a comfortable silence. 

Lying there, curled up in Ayumu’s embrace, Setsuna thought (for the millionth time) about how lucky she felt. She had been so worried that her friendship would be ruined by one night’s mistake, but they both came out stronger from it. It had been scary, but they talked it out like adults, and it led to Setsuna’s wildest dream coming true. 

“You know, tonight made me realize something,” Ayumu said, breaking the silence again. 

Setsuna untangled herself from Ayumu’s embrace so she could actually look her girlfriend in the eye. “And what’s that?”

“I still don’t know where you got that vibrator.”

After a beat where Setsuna’s brain comprehended what Ayumu had said, she burst out laughing. Ayumu returned that with a stupid grin of her own and kept talking.

“Then again, I guess it doesn’t matter now. I can just use yours whenever I want.”

Setsuna laughed even harder, to the point where her stomach started to hurt and she had to blink back tears. This time, Ayumu joined in, and the couple spent the next minute laughing their asses off. 

“You’re absolutely ridiculous,” Setsuna said, still trying to regain her composure.

“But you love me anyway.”

She leaned in and planted a soft kiss to Ayumu’s lips. “To the moon and back, Pomu.”

“I love you too, Nacchan. Now let’s get some sleep; you really wore me out tonight.”

With one final chuckle, Setsuna obliged, rolling over onto her other side, facing away from her girlfriend. Immediately, Ayumu wrapped herself around Setsuna. She loved the feeling of… safety and comfort that being the little spoon brought. Ever since they started regularly sharing a bed, it was her favorite way to fall asleep. The rhythmic rise and fall of Ayumu’s chest against her back was the perfect lullaby. Ayumu also had a penchant for grabbing her chest, and while the first few times she’d done it had been embarrassing, Setsuna rather enjoyed the feeling now.

It didn’t take long for them to fall asleep.

They both slept soundly through the night.

The next morning came, as it was wont to do, and the sunlight spilling in through the window awakened both of them at around the same time.

The first thing Ayumu noticed after waking up was the long, silky smooth black hair that her face was buried in. The second thing she noticed was the extra pair of legs intertwined with her own. The third thing she noticed was something warm, soft, and squishy in her hand. The fourth thing she noticed was that she was naked.

Ayumu smiled.

The first thing Setsuna noticed when she woke up was a nose pressed against the nape of her neck. The second thing she noticed was the extra pair of legs intertwined with her own. The third thing she noticed was the hand on her chest. The fourth thing she noticed was that she was naked.

Setsuna smiled.

So much had changed since the morning after that first drunken night together, and some days, Setsuna could hardly believe it. She thought such a momentous change would be scary.

But sometimes when everything changes, it changes for the better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for coming on this journey with me. I never expected this to get the reception it did, but it's made me so happy. This is the longest story I've written in almost 10 years, and all of your support helped me see it through to the end. That means a lot to me. So thank you <3


End file.
